Systems and Methods for Providing Renewable Wireline and Wireless Services and Goods

ABSTRACT

Methods for provisioning wireline or wireless services and goods to at least one prepaid or postpaid customer in a communications network are provided. In one such method, a request is received for at least one service or good from a prepaid customer and it is determined based upon the request if sufficient funds are available to pay for the requested service and, if not, a warning message is sent to the customer. If funds are available a payment for the requested service or good is deducted from the customer&#39;s account, the account balance is updated, and an authorization is sent to the service node that facilitates the requested service or good. Upon receipt of the authorization, the service node is permitted to access the requested service or good in accordance with a parameter. Other similar methods are provided for postpaid customers.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S.patent application Ser. No. 14/189,318, entitled “Systems and Methodsfor Providing Renewable Wireline and Wireless Services and Goods,” filedFeb. 25, 2014, now allowed, which is a continuation of and claimspriority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/764,818, entitled“Systems and Methods for Providing Renewable Wireline and WirelessServices and Goods,” filed Jun. 19, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,660,521,which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/915,586,entitled “Systems and Methods for Providing Renewable Wireline andWireless Services and Goods, filed May 2, 2007, all of which areincorporated herein by reference in their respective entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to the provisioning of servicesto customers and, more particularly, to real-time provisioning ofservices for prepaid and postpaid customers of wireline and wirelessservices.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Telecommunications services such as cellular communications aregenerally provided to customers via two methods, prepaid and postpaid.Prepaid customers typically purchase a number of voice minutes at apredetermined cost prior to receiving wireless voice service. After thepredetermined number of voice minutes is exhausted the prepaid customermust replenish their account prior to receiving future service. Prepaidwireless service is popular among customers who are ineligible for acontract-based subscription service, such as customers with no or poorcredit history, and young adults, among others.

Postpaid accounts are designed such that if the customer exceeds thenumber of voice minutes, data capacity, text messages, or other servicesavailable for their account, the postpaid customer will be charged forthe excess services on a bill sent to the customer at the end of thebilling cycle. Often times, the customer is unaware of the overage andis requested to pay an unexpected bill at the end of the billing cycle.

Services, such as Cingular's ROLLOVER® service aim to eliminate overagesand accumulate unused minutes for use in future billing cycles. Thisservice, however, does not allow for a user to add voice minuteson-the-fly and requires the subscriber to be using the service for atleast one month to accumulate unused minutes.

Postpaid customers are set to a monthly reoccurring charge (MRC) thatdoes not typically fluctuate from month to month. Accordingly, it isdifficult for service providers to increase revenue from these customersoutside of the occasional overage or purchase (e.g., ringtone).

Prepaid customers are often limited to pay-per-use voice and data fortheir prepaid service. Many prepaid customers are teenagers and youngadults that are socially-active. Data services such as text messagingare widely popular among this demographic, however, a postpaidsubscription service is not ideal or not obtainable for many of thesecustomers. Other customers enjoy the ability to pay on an as-neededbasis as opposed to being confined to a postpaid subscription service.

Thus, it would be beneficial for a postpaid customer to offer servicesto increase the allotment of a certain service (e.g., minutes/month) fora particular billing period on an as-needed basis. Also, the ability tooffer free or pay trials for services could aid in introducing newfeatures and services to customers. These on-the-fly services canincrease revenue for the service provider from postpaid customers.Likewise, the ability to offer enhanced services to prepaid customers isalso desirable to service providers.

Accordingly, what is needed is novel methods to provision wireline andwireless services and goods in real-time or near real-time for postpaidand prepaid subscribers, such as to provide additional services forprepaid customers and provide trial and on-the-fly availability ofservices for postpaid customers.

SUMMARY

The various embodiments of the present invention overcome theshortcomings of the prior art by providing methods for ad hocprovisioning of a temporary subscription for wireless and wireline goodsand services to at least one prepaid or postpaid customer in acommunications network. In one such method, a request is received for atleast one service or good from a prepaid customer and it is determinedbased upon the request if sufficient funds are available to pay for therequested service and, if not, a warning message is sent to thecustomer. If funds are available a payment for the requested service orgood is deducted from the customer's account, the account balance isupdated, and an authorization is sent to the service node thatfacilitates the requested service or good. Upon receipt of theauthorization, the service node is permitted to access the requestedservice or good in accordance with a specification.

In another method, a request is received for at least one service orgood from a postpaid customer and it is determined if the service orgood is to be billed. If the service or good is requested to be billed,a billing authorization is performed. If it is determined that thepostpaid customer is authorized for billing, an authorization is sent tothe service node for the requested service or good. The authorization isused for authenticating the use of the service node. Upon receipt of theauthorization, the service node is permitted to access the requestedservice or good in accordance with a specification.

However, if the postpaid customer is not authorized for billing a firstwarning message is sent to the postpaid customer. The first warningmessage can request payment from an account such as a checking account,savings account, debit account, credit account, or points account. It isthen determined if funds are available in the account to pay for therequested service or good. If appropriate funds are not available, asecond warning message can be sent to the customer. If appropriate fundsare available, a payment for the requested service or good can bededucted from the account and the balance accordingly updated. Afterwhich, an authorization is sent to the service node for the requestedservice or good. The authorization is used for authenticating the use ofthe service node. Upon receipt of the authorization, the service node ispermitted to access the requested service or good.

Another method is provided for managing a database wherein the databaseis configured to store at least one service or good provisioned for useby at least one prepaid or postpaid customer in a communicationsnetwork. In this method, at least one service or good is provisioned foruse by a customer and a database entry is established in the database.The database entry is associated with a customer account and correspondsto the service or good. The database entry can include a specificationcorresponding to at least one of the following: a time period duringwhich the service or good is available and a quantity of the service orgood. A countdown timer and a usage monitor are provided and configuredto track the remaining time the service or good is available to thecustomer, and the remaining quantity of the service or good,respectively. The method also provides for storing in the database theinitial time and the initial quantity of the provisioned service or goodand updating at least one of the countdown timer and the usage monitorin response to a change in the remaining time and remaining quantity,and updating the database appropriately. It is then determined if atleast one of the time period and the quantity has expired. If at leastone of the time period and the quantity has not expired, the database isupdated to include at least one of the remaining time and the remainingquantity.

The above methods may be stored on a computer-readable medium ascomputer-executable instructions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary communications network in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary charging architecture to facilitatevarious features of the present invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary online charging system to facilitatevarious features of the present invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary operation of the charging architectureillustrated in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary billing system in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flow diagram of an exemplary method for ad hocprovisioning of services and/or goods to a prepaid customer inaccordance with the present invention.

FIG. 7 illustrates a flow diagram of an exemplary method for ad hocprovisioning of service and/or goods to a postpaid customer inaccordance with the present invention.

FIG. 8 illustrates a flow diagram of an exemplary method for managing anad hoc provisioning database in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary service/good availability screen asdisplayed on a communications device in accordance with the presentinvention.

FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary confirmation screen as displayed on acommunications device in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 11 illustrates an exemplary service indicator as displayed on acommunications device in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary warning prompt as displayed on acommunications device in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosedherein. It must be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merelyexemplary of the invention that may be embodied in various andalternative forms, and combinations thereof. As used herein, the word“exemplary” is used expansively to refer to embodiments that serve as anillustration, specimen, model or pattern. The figures are notnecessarily to scale and some features may be exaggerated or minimizedto show details of particular components. In other instances, well-knowncomponents, systems, materials or methods have not been described indetail in order to avoid obscuring the present invention. Therefore,specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not tobe interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and asa representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variouslyemploy the present invention.

Referring now to the drawings in which like numerals represent likeelements throughout the several views, FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplarycommunications network 100 in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention. The communications network 100 is designed tofacilitate wireless and wireline services (and/or goods) for bothprepaid and postpaid customers. As used herein, a prepaid service/goodis defined as a service/good paid in full in advance to a customer usingthe service/good. There are various procurement options available to theprepaid customer, such as prepaid cards which may be purchased at astore and may be renewable such that the customer can replenish the cardvalue (in the case of monetary value) with additional funds.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a prepaid card is providedas a monetary valued card. A monetary valued card can include apredetermined value in a currency that may be used to purchase anyservice or good offered by a wireless or wireline service provider.Alternatively, a card may be limited to certain services and/or goods.In another embodiment, a prepaid card is provided as a service valuedcard. A service valued card can include a predetermined service value,such as a number of voice minutes, a number of data minutes, a datatransfer capacity (e.g., Xbytes/Kbytes/Mbytes), a number of textmessages, a number of multimedia messages, mobile television service,mobile radio service, device insurance, and like services. A servicevalued card can also include unlimited use of one or more of theseservices for a specified period of time and be set to expire after thetime period. For example, the service value may be designed such that120 data minutes are available to the customer for a period of no longerthan 30 days. In yet another embodiment, a prepaid card is provided as agood valued card. A good valued card can include a predetermined goodvalue, such as a number of ringtones, songs, audio books, videos,movies, and like goods. A good can include any digital media, such astext, audio, video, video games, holographs, community chat, and thelike.

A prepaid card can be configured as is known in the art. A customer canpurchase the prepaid card and be required to activate the card. By wayof example, the customer may be required to place a call to a customercall center or an automated system (e.g., Interactive Voice Response(IVR)) and provide an identification number on the card to activate thepurchased services or goods. Further, the customer may be required toactivate the card using the mobile device associated with the customer'sprepaid account for authentication purposes. In some instances, thecustomer may not already have an established prepaid account. A prepaidaccount establishment process may occur upon the customer's first use ofthe prepaid service, such as those known in the art.

Other procurement options for prepaid services include an Internetwebsite, a call center, or an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system topurchase, manage, and activate prepaid services and goods. It iscontemplated that a database designed specifically for prepaid customerscan be designed to manage and monitor the present status of purchasedservices and goods for each prepaid customer. For example, customer Apurchases a prepaid card for a 120 minute data session that is scheduledto expire in 30 days. By further example, customer A also purchases aprepaid card for 5 ringtones that is scheduled to expire in 14 days. Thedatabase could compile and store an entry to include the start time andend time of the data session service and ringtone good for customer A aswell as an indication of the remaining data minutes and ringtonesavailable for customer A as the minutes and ringtones are used. The dataminutes and ringtone quantity is updated in real-time or near real-timeto reflect the remaining minutes and ringtones for customer A. Thedatabase is later described in detail.

In addition to prepaid services and goods for wireless services, thepresent invention is also applicable to other services such as wirelinetelephone service, wireline Internet service, Voice over InternetProtocol (VoW) service, cable television service, satellite televisionservice, satellite radio service, and any other wireline or wirelessservice(s). Payment for these services can be handled via appropriatebilling systems associated with the wireline service providers and insome instances a converged billing system that incorporates a pluralityof service billing systems that may be used to perform billingprocesses, such as those for both wireless and wireline services.

The present invention is also applicable to postpaid customers. As usedherein, a postpaid service or good is defined as a service or good paidin full after a customer uses the service or good. This is typicallydone on a predetermined billing cycle. The present invention providesreal-time provisioning of services or goods for a one-time chargeinstead of the monthly reoccurring charge (MRC) typically associatedwith postpaid accounts. By way of example, a postpaid customer may onlyhave 500 minutes each month and in a particular month the customer mayhave used 450 of their minutes within the first two weeks of the month.In accordance with the present invention, the customer can purchase anadditional X minutes to avoid paying overages at the end of the month.The minutes would be available to the customer after a one-time chargeor billed to the customer's postpaid account. It is contemplated thatthe additional minutes can be offered for a one-time charge consistentwith the service rate (e.g., $/minute) currently established for thecustomer's plan.

The present invention is also extensible to adding temporary services orgoods to a customer's plan in real-time or near real-time. A temporaryservice may be offered at a proportioned rate for a subscription plan,as a free or pay trial, or at a discounted rate. For example, supposecustomer B currently only has voice minutes and text messages availablein their subscription plan, however, recently the customer has becomeinterested in purchasing a data plan and would like to try a data planprior to committing to a MRC for the service. Accordingly, the presentinvention can allow customer B to select a trial period of a limited orunlimited amount of data minutes for a specified trial period, forexample, 30 days. Further, after the trial, customer B may elect topurchase the data plan on an as needed basis. For example, customer Bcan purchase a data plan for a one-time charge billed in real-time orcharged to the customer's account for future billing.

The aforementioned has broadly outlined several inventive aspects of thepresent invention. The communications network 100 is now described indetail as it relates to those aspects.

The architecture of the illustrated network 100 incorporates elements ofa Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) network, a GenericPacket Radio Service (GPRS) network, and a Universal MobileTelecommunications System (UMTS) network in the wireless domain. Itshould be understood, however, that the present invention is networkagnostic and may be implemented using Code Division Multiple Access(CDMA), CDMA2000 or other wireless technology. More particularly, theillustrated communications network 100 includes a mobile terminal (MT)102 in communication with a base station subsystem (BSS) 104 on the GSMside of the network. On the UMTS side, a user equipment (UE) 106 is incommunication with a UMTS terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN) 108.The BSS 104 and UTRAN 108 are in communication with a circuit switchedcore network (CS-CN) 110 and a packet switched core network (PS-CN) 112.The aforementioned radio access networks (i.e., BSS 104 and UTRAN 108)and the core networks 110, 112 comprise the basic subsystems of theillustrated communications network 100.

Referring now to the GSM network side, the BSS 104 can include one ormore base transceiver stations (BTS) 114 and a base station controller(BSC) 116 which are connected via an A-bis interface. The mobileterminal 102 is in communication with the BTS 114 via a Um airinterface. Base stations are all interconnected to facilitate roamingfrom one cell to another via a process called handover, without losingthe cell connection. The BSC 116 provides the intelligence behind theBTS 114. Typically, a BSC can have tens or even hundreds of BTSs 114under its control. The BSC 116 handles allocation of radio channels,receives measurements from the mobile terminals, and controls handoversfrom BTS to BTS (except in the case of an inter-MSC (mobile switchingcenter) handover in which case control is in part the responsibility ofthe MSC). One function of the BSC 116 is to act as a concentrator suchthat many different low capacity connections to the BTS 114 can becomereduced to a smaller number of connections towards the MSC. Generally,this means that networks are often structured to have many BSCs 116distributed into regions near the BTS 114 which are then connected tolarge centralized MSC sites.

A node-B 118 is the UMTS counterpart to the GSM BTS 114. The node-B 118is in communication with a Radio Network Controller (RNC) 120 whichfunctions similar to the BSC 116 in the GSM domain. Multiple RNCs can beconnected together via an Iur interface, and the RNCs can in turn beconnected to one or more node-Bs 118 via an Iub interface. A UE 106communicates with the node-B 118 via a Uu air interface. The RNC 120communicates with the MSC/VLR 122 via an Iu interface and to the SGSN134 via the same interface. It should be understood that elements of thecommunications network 100 have been simplified and in fact differentarchitecture may be used to facilitate both 2G and 3G wireless services.

The BSC 116 is in communication with the CS-CN 110 and particularly theMSC/VLR 122 (mobile switching center/visiting location register) via anA interface. The MSC/VLR 122 is in communication with a home locationregister 124 via a D interface. An authentication center (AuC) 126 is incommunication with the HLR 124 via an H interface. The MSC/VLR 122 isalso in communication with an equipment identity register (EIR) 128 viaan F interface. The AuC 126 and the EIR 128, although technicallyseparate functions from the HLR 124, may be combined into a singlenetwork node.

The MSC/VLR 122 is in communication with a gateway MSC (GMSC) 130 via anE interface. The GMSC 130 is also in communication with external circuitnetworks 132, such as an Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) andPublic Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) for data transfer via the Einterface. The MSC/VLR 122 is in communication with the external circuitnetworks 132 for voice transfer.

The MSC/VLR 122 is also in communication with the PS-CN 112 and moreparticularly to a Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) 134 via a Gsinterface. The BSC 116 may include a packet control unit (not shown) forhandling data transfer between the BSC 116 and the SGSN 134 via a Gbinterface. Alternatively, an external PCU may be implemented. The HLR124 and EIR 128 are in communication with the SGSN 134 via a Gr and Gfinterface, respectively.

The SGSN 134 is in communication with a Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN)136 via a Gn interface. The GGSN 136 provides access to external packetnetworks 138 such as the Internet, an intranet, or an extranet, forexample. The GGSN 136 communicates with the external packet networks 138via a Gi interface. The SGSN 134 can also be in communication with aShort Message Service Center (SMSC) 139 via a Gd interface. The SMSC 139can provide SMS and in some implementations Multimedia Message Service(MMS) messages to a customer. Multiple SMSCs and/or a dedicated MIVISCare also contemplated.

The SGSN 134 is in communication with a charging system 140 via a CAPinterface. The GGSN 136 is in communication with the charging system 140via an Ro interface. The charging system 140 is also in communicationwith a billing system 142.

Briefly, the charging system 140 is responsible for offline and onlinecharging of customer accounts. The present invention can be implementedfor use in prepaid and postpaid network platforms. For simplicity asingle charging system is illustrated; however, separate chargingsystems are contemplated and may be utilized if desired by the serviceprovider. As used herein, “offline charging” includes a chargingmechanism where charging information does not affect, in real-time, theservice rendered. Offline charging is applicable to most MRCapplications, for example. Conversely, “online charging” includes acharging mechanism where charging information can affect, in real-time,the service. Online charging can be used in prepaid applications andreal-time provisioning, for example. The charging system 140 and itscomponents are described in further detail with reference to FIGS. 2-4.

The billing system 142 is responsible for billing postpaid customers andhandling payments received for service provisioned in accordance withthe present invention for both postpaid and prepaid accounts. Like thecharging system 140, the billing system 142 can be designed as twoseparate entities for postpaid and prepaid applications. The billingsystem 142 is described in greater detail with reference to FIG. 5.

A call center 144 and an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) 146 areillustrated as being in communication with the MSC/VLR 122. The callcenter 144 and the IVR 146 can function to offer customer care services,such as account setup, account activation, account closure, accountcontact information updates, balance inquiries, prepaid deposits,bill-pay, and like services via a human operator and automated system,respectively. Although illustrated as being in direct communication withthe MSC/VLR 122, the call center 144 and/or IVR 146 may in addition oralternatively be in communication with the external circuit networks132.

The present invention is not limited to wireless telecommunicationservices and is extensible to wireline services, such as those providedby cable and satellite providers. Accordingly, other service networks148 can include cable television and satellite television serviceproviders, for example. Wireline telephone service providers can offerservices such as dial-up or digital subscriber line (DSL) Internetaccess, wireline telephone 150 service, or VoIP telephone 154 service,for example. Real-time provisioning of other services such as cable andsatellite television service for postpaid and prepaid customers areprovided in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.Although not illustrated, other service networks 148 may be incommunication with the external circuit networks 132, external packetnetworks 138, the CS-CN 110, and/or the PS-CN 112.

A point-of-sale (POS) system 152 is also illustrated. The POS system 152can be provided at a brick and mortar store or through an Internetwebsite. The POS system 152 can allow a customer to purchase servicesdirectly or via service cards. It is contemplated that the POS system152 can be used to offer wireline and/or wireless services. A directpurchase could involve the customer purchasing the service at the POSsystem 152 and the purchased service being updated in the customer'saccount for the corresponding service provider. The account update canbe accomplished by a connection between the POS system 152 and theservice provider's billing system 142, for example. As mentionedpreviously, the service provider can be a wireless service provider or awireline service provider. The services offered through features of thepresent invention can be any wireline or wireless service; however, someexamples include, but are not limited to, traditional POTS (plain oldtelephone system) service, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service,cellular voice service, cellular data service, messaging service, Wi-Fiservice, WiMax service, cable television service, IP television service,satellite television service, mobile television service, mobile radioservice, satellite radio service, variations thereof, and the like.Other services such as device insurance are also contemplated.

The external packet networks 138 can provide Internet access for acomputer 158, VoIP telephone access for a VoIP telephone 154, and IPtelevision service for an IP television 156. Other packet-based servicesare also contemplated and are not limited to those shown nor are theylimited to the Internet Protocol (IP).

Referring now to FIG. 2, an exemplary charging architecture 200 isillustrated as defined by the 3GPP technical specifications. Thecharging architecture 200 is illustrated as a single network entity butmay be implemented as a plurality of entities such as for providingseparate charging functions for both postpaid and prepaid customers. Theleft side of the charging architecture 200 illustrates an offlinecharging system 202. The offline charging system 202 includes a ChargingData Function (CDF) 208 and a Charging Gateway Function (CGF) 210. Theright side of the charging architecture 200 illustrates an onlinecharging system 204. The offline charging system 202 and the onlinecharging system 204 are both operable to transmit call detail records(CDR) to a billing system 142. As previously described, “offlinecharging” includes a charging mechanism where charging information doesnot affect, in real-time, the service rendered. “Online charging”includes a charging mechanism where charging information can affect, inreal-time, the service rendered. In the present invention, onlinecharging is used for real-time provisioning of services for prepaid andpostpaid customers for pre-pay applications and offline charging is usedfor real-time provisioning for postpaid customers in post-payapplications (i.e., future billing).

The offline charging system 202 communicates with the following elementsor functions to receive charging information: a circuit-switched networkelement (CS-NE) 212 (such as those described in the CS-CN 110 of FIG.1), a service network element (service-NE) 214, a Session InitiationProtocol (SIP) application service (SIP AS) 216, a Multimedia ResourceFunction Control (MRFC) 218, a Media Gateway Control Function (MGCF)220, a Break-out Gateway Control Function (BGCF) 222, a Proxy-CallSession Control Function (P-CSCF)/Interrogate-CSCF (I-CSCF) 224, aServing-CSCF (S-CSCF) 226, a wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) 228, anSGSN 134, and a GGSN 136. These and the other illustrated elements aredescribed in detail in the 3GPP technical specifications.

Referring now to FIG. 3, an online charging system 204 is illustrated.The illustrated online charging system 204 includes online chargingfunctions 300. These can include a session-based charging function 302,an event-based charging function 304, and a volume-based chargingfunction 305. Session-based charging (SBC) includes a service usagecharging procedure that is based on the time period the user avails theservice. Event-based charging (EBC) includes a service usage chargingprocedure that is based on per use of service. An example of event-basedcharging is a customer being charged per each SMS message sent orreceived from their handset. Volume-based charging (VBC) includes aservice usage charging procedure that is based on the data volumetransferred to the service user for the purpose of service execution.This may be measured in bytes, kilobytes (KB), or megabytes (MB), forexample.

The online charging system 204 further includes an account balancemanagement function (ABMF) 306 that is in communication with the onlinecharging functions 300 via an Rc interface and is illustrated as storingone or more accounts 308. The accounts 308 can be prepaid or postpaidaccounts and alternatively more than one ABMF 306 can be used such asone for postpaid customers and one for prepaid customers. The ABMF 306is responsible for updating account balances based upon charges receivedfrom the online charging functions 300. For prepaid accounts, the ABMF306 could debit a prepaid account for the services rendered. Forpostpaid accounts, the postpaid customer may establish a separate debitaccount that is associated with his/her postpaid account for temporaryservices, pay trials and the like. Alternatively, a credit card or otherfunds source may be used to pay for a service or good. The ABMF 306 isin communication with a recharging server 307 via an Rr interface. Therecharging server 307 can allow a prepaid customer or a postpaidcustomer with a linked account to replenish their account. Accountreplenishment can include replenishment from a prepaid card, a bankaccount, a savings account, a points account, or other account for aprepaid customer. In certain instances, a credit card may be used, forexample, if the prepaid customer has previously undergone a credit checkor for postpaid customers with a linked account.

A charging gateway function 310 is in communication with the onlinecharging functions 300 via a Ga interface and to a post-processingsystem 311 via a Bo interface. The post-processing system 311 can be abilling system. A rating function 312 is illustrated as being incommunication with the online charging functions 300 via a Re interface.The rating function 312 includes tariff information 314. The tariffinformation 314 can include all the purchase values for the variousgoods and services provided by the service provider.

The online charging system 204 is in communication with a variety ofnetwork elements, some of which were previously described. Others, suchas the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) elements, have not been describedand are generally known to those skilled in the art. Accordingly,features provided by an IMS network are also contemplated.

Referring now to FIG. 4, the charging architecture 200 is now describedin detail. The illustrated charging architecture includes a chargingtrigger function (CTF) 400 that is in communication with the offlinecharging system 202 and the online charging system 204 via an Rfinterface and an Ro interface, respectively. The CTF 400 can beimplemented into any of the previously described service elements andcan be configured to trigger a charging routine for a particular serviceor good. The offline charging system 202 includes a charging datafunction 208 that is in communication with a charging gateway function210 via a Ga interface. The online charging system 204 includes anonline charging function 300 that is in communication with an accountbalance management function (ABMF) 306, a rating function (RF) 312, anda charging gateway function 212. Each of the illustrated charginggateway functions 210, 212 are in communication with the billing system142 via Bx and Bo interfaces, respectively. The offline CGF 210 is incommunication with an offline RF 402 that is illustrated as being storedwithin the billing system 142. The offline RF 402 is responsible forrating services for postpaid customers when the postpaid customer's billreflects any charges the customer incurs during the billing period. Eachof the CGFs 210, 212 includes call detail records (CDR) or more broadlytermed charge detail records (CDR) 404 to reflect all charges not justvoice call charges. Although the online and offline gateway functions210, 212 and rating functions 312, 402 are described and illustrated asseparate elements, a combined architecture is also contemplated.

An exemplary billing system 142 is now described with reference to FIG.5. The illustrated billing system 142 includes the offline ratingfunction 402 that is in communication with the offline CGF 210 (see FIG.4) via a Bx interface. The offline rating function 402 is incommunication with a rate plans database 500 that is configured to storeand manage rate plans for postpaid subscription services. The rate plansdatabase 500 is in communication with a call center 144 that in turn isin communication with an IVR 146. The call center 144 and IVR 146facilitate customer care services such as those described above withreference to FIG. 1. The offline rating function 402 is also incommunication with a bill calculator 502 that is provided to calculatepostpaid bills and process invoices 504 to be sent via email, mail orvia another method to a postpaid subscriber at the end of a billingperiod.

The bill calculator 502 is in communication with a postpaid accountsdatabase 506 that in turn is in communication with a postpaidprovisioning database 508. The postpaid provisioning database isconfigured to store and manage services and/or goods provisioned inreal-time or near real-time for postpaid subscribers. Althoughillustrated as part of the billing system 142, the postpaid provisioningdatabase 508 can be integrated into the online charging system 204described in FIGS. 3 and 4. In one exemplary alternative embodiment, theprovisioning databases 508, 512 can be in communication with the ABMF306.

A prepaid accounts database 510 is also illustrated. The prepaidaccounts database 510 is configured to maintain prepaid customeraccounts and is illustrated as being in communication with a prepaidprovisioning database 512 that functions similarly to the postpaidprovisioning database 508, but for prepaid customers. The prepaidprovisioning database 512 can be incorporated into the online chargingsystem 204.

Referring now to FIG. 6, a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method600 for ad hoc provisioning of services and/or goods to a prepaidcustomer in accordance with the present invention is illustrated. Themethods illustrated in FIGS. 6-8 are not intended to be limited to theorder shown.

The exemplary method 600 begins and flow proceeds to step 602 wherein itis determined if a prepaid customer account has been established for aparticular customer. If no account has been established flow proceeds tostep 604 wherein an account is established for the customer via knownmethods. After the account is established or if an account is alreadyestablished, flow then proceeds to step 606 wherein a request for an adhoc provisioned service/good is received. It is determined at step 608if funds are available in the customer's prepaid account to pay for therequested service. If it is determined that there are insufficient fundsin step 608, flow proceeds to step 610 wherein a warning message is sentto the customer. This determination can be made at the ABMF 306, forexample. It is contemplated that the warning message can include anotification of insufficient funds and may optionally provideinstructions to replenish their account, such as by using a telephonenumber or website. Alternatively, the message may be interactive suchthat the user can replenish their account from their communicationsdevice. SMS, MMS, and USSD are some examples of message types that maybe used to facilitate this aspect of the present invention althoughother message types are also contemplated.

At step 612 the customer is provided with the option to replenish theiraccount to allow the requested service to be charged and provisioned. Ifthe customer does not elect to replenish their account the method ends.If the customer does elect to replenish their account, then flowproceeds to step 614 wherein an account credit is received and theaccount balance is accordingly updated. An account credit can be fundedby a bank account, savings account, a debit account, a points account,or in some instances a credit account if the prepaid customer has beenpre-approved. The customer can call a customer care system and speakwith a human operator or an automated system to deposit funds into theiraccount. As an alternative, a web interface may be provided tofacilitate such deposits. Funding may also be sourced from a prepaidcard.

After the account credit is received in step 614 or funds are availablein step 608, flow proceeds to step 616 and the appropriate amount isdeducted from the customer's account for the requested service/good. Theaccount balance is also updated. Flow then proceeds to step 618 whereinan authorization is sent to the corresponding service node (i.e., theservice node to facilitate the requested service). At step 618 theservice node receives the authorization and grants access to therequested service in accordance with the parameters established for therequested service. These parameters can include, for example, theexpiration date and expiration quantity for the requested service. Moreinformation with regard to the management of provisioning for aservice/good is described with reference to FIG. 8. After authorizationis received and access is granted the method ends.

Referring now to FIG. 7, a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method700 for ad hoc provisioning of services and/or goods to a postpaidcustomer in accordance with the present invention is illustrated. Themethod 700 begins and flow proceeds to step 702. If an account is notestablished, flow proceeds to step 704 wherein a postpaid customeraccount is established. After an account is established at step 704 orif an account is established at the start of the method 700, flowproceeds to step 706 wherein a request for an ad hoc provisionedservice/good is received. At step 708, the user is prompted for paymenttype. For example, the customer may choose to have the service chargesbilled to his postpaid account and receive an invoice with theapplicable charges at the end of a billing period, to deduct the chargesfrom a debit account, or make a one-time payment. If the customer electsto receive a bill for the requested service, flow moves to step 710 andan authorization process is performed. The authorization process caninclude steps to determine the customer's account status such as currentor delinquent. If the account is current, the account may be authorizedat step 712 and flow would then proceed to step 714. At step 714, anauthorization is sent to the corresponding service node. At step 716,the service node receives the authorization and grants access to therequested service in accordance with the associated parameters, and themethod ends.

If, however, at step 712 it is determined that the account is delinquentor otherwise unauthorized, a warning message may be sent at step 718. Itis contemplated that the warning message can include a warning of thedelinquency or other reason for not authorizing the customer's servicerequest. In some embodiments the user may be prompted to pay the currentoutstanding balance on their account prior to receiving the requestedservice. As such, after step 718 flow proceeds to step 720 wherein thecustomer can decide if they would like to pay using a one-time paymentvia a credit card, debit card, bank draft, e-check, gift card, or otherform of payment, or if they would like to use a debit account associatedwith the postpaid account. In one embodiment, a debit account isestablished by the postpaid customer as a funds source for ad hocprovisioned services and/or goods and is linked to the customer'spostpaid account. Functionally, this debit account is similar to theaccount setup for a prepaid customer. In addition, the debit account maybe used to pay monthly reoccurring charges (MRCs) such as thoseassociated with the postpaid customer's subscription plans. If aone-time payment is selected, flow proceeds from step 720 to step 722and a one-time payment operation is performed, otherwise the charges aredebited from the customer's debit account. Regardless of whether paymentis received from a debit account or a one-time payment, flow proceeds tostep 714 and an authorization is sent to the corresponding service node.At step 716, the service node receives the authorization and grantsaccess to the requested service in accordance with the associatedparameters, and the method ends.

Referring now to FIG. 8, a flow diagram of an exemplary method 800 formanaging a provisioning database in accordance with the presentinvention is illustrated. The method 800 begins and flow proceeds tostep 802 wherein a database entry is established for a provisionedservice or good, such as one provisioned for a prepaid customer in FIG.6 or a postpaid customer in FIG. 7. At step 804, the parameters for theprovisioned service are stored. The parameters can include an expirationdate for the service/good and an expiration quantity. An expiration datecan be determined by the service provider and can be any period of timedefined in terms of seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, oryears. By way of previous example, a data session can be provisioned foruse by a customer, upon selection of the service the customer would benotified of the expiration date such as 30 days. Upon payment/billingand authorization of the service a timer can be enabled at step 806. Itis contemplated that some services/goods may have expiration dates, butmay also have an expiration quantity. Drawing from the previous example,the data session may include an expiration quantity of 120 minutes.Accordingly, in step 806 a usage monitor would also be enabled tomonitor the customer's usage of the allotted minutes. In someembodiments there is no expiration date and only an expiration quantitysuch that the customer can use the minutes at leisure.

Proceeding now to step 808, the timer and usage monitor are updated.This may take place, for example, after the customer ends a datasession. Flow then proceeds to step 810 wherein it is determined if theservice/good has expired. If the service is expired the method 800 ends,otherwise flow proceeds back to step 808 and the timer and usage monitorare updated until one of the expiration date and expiration quantity ismet. The customer may be prompted to replenish the service/good afterexpiration. An example of this is illustrated in FIG. 12.

Referring now to FIG. 9, an exemplary communications device 900 isillustrated. The illustrated communications device 900 includes adisplay 902, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), on which anexemplary service/good availability screen 904 is illustrated. Asillustrated, a 120 minute data session is highlighted and may beselected by using a hard key from keypad 906, a soft key (not shown) orother selection method such as a scroll wheel, touch screen, or thelike. It is contemplated that an International Mobile Equipment Identity(IMEI) or similar identification may be used to determine which servicesare available for a particular communications device. Accordingly, anyunavailable services/goods could be marked as unavailable such as byremoving them from the list or otherwise indicating unavailability forthose services/goods. Moreover, a customer's International MobileSubscriber Identity (IMSI) or similar identification may be used by theservice provider to limit the services available to that subscriber atthe service provider's discretion or as indicated by the owner of theaccount (e.g., a parent of a child that is using prepaid service).

Referring now to FIG. 10, a customer has selected the 120 minute datasession for real-time provisioning. A confirmation screen 1000 isillustrated on display 902. The confirmation screen 1000 providesoptions for the customer to confirm the purchase or cancel the purchase.In the illustrated confirmation screen 1000, the customer has selectedto confirm the purchase.

Referring now to FIG. 11, a customer is utilizing the purchased dataaccess session. The display 902 now shows a service/good indicator 1100to notify the customer that the session is currently being used and thenumber of days remaining (29 days) and access time remaining (119minutes). The service/good indicator 1100 can include any icon, photo,or other image, text, sound, or any combination thereof to notify theuser of any pending expiration time or expiration quantity. An Internetbrowser screen 1102 is also illustrated.

Referring now to FIG. 12, the service/good indicator 1102 has updated toreflect that only 10 days remain for the provisioned service and that 0minutes of access time remain. The Internet browser screen 1200 has alsobeen updated to illustrate that the data session is no longer available.A prompt 1202 is also shown. The prompt 1202 can be used to furthernotify the customer of the expired service and provide the option forthe customer to replenish the service. If the customer elects toreplenish the service, the charging methods previously described inFIGS. 6 and 7 could be used to charge the customer for the service andreprovision the service for a determined expiration time and/orexpiration quantity. This could be particularly useful for applicationswhere the provisioned service or good was originally provisioned as atrial, after which the customer may want to continue service.

The law does not require and it is economically prohibitive to and teachevery possible embodiment of the present claims. Hence, theabove-described embodiments are merely exemplary illustrations ofimplementations set forth for a clear understanding of the principles ofthe invention. Variations, modifications, and combinations may be madeto the above-described embodiments without departing from the scope ofthe claims. All such variations, modifications, and combinations areincluded herein by the scope of this disclosure and the followingclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving, by a systemcomprising a processor, from a mobile communication device associatedwith a subscription plan associated with a first time period, a userrequest for a feature associated with a second time period; andprovisioning, by the system, in response to receiving the user request,the feature for the mobile communication device for the second timeperiod.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the second time period isshorter than the first time period.
 3. The method of claim 1, whereinthe subscription plan comprises one of a voice plan or a data plan. 4.The method of claim 1, wherein the second time period is renewable, andwherein the method further comprises re-provisioning the feature for themobile communication device in response to receiving a request to renewthe feature.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the feature comprisesaccess to digital media content, and wherein the digital media contentcomprises at least one of audio, video, or video games.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising providing, to the mobile communicationdevice, a prompt for a payment type for a charge associated with thefeature, wherein the prompt comprises a first option to bill an accountassociated with a user of the mobile communication device for the chargeassociated with the feature, a second option to deduct the chargeassociated with the feature from a debit account associated with theuser of the mobile communication device, and a third option to make aone-time payment for the charge associated with the feature.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising establishing, in a database, anentry associated with an account corresponding to a user of the mobilecommunication device, the entry comprising at least one of an expirationquantity of the feature or an expiration date for the feature based onthe second time period during which the feature is available.
 8. Anon-transitory computer-readable storage device storingcomputer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor,cause the processor to perform operations comprising: receiving, from amobile communication device associated with a subscription planassociated with a first time period, a user request for a featureassociated with a second time period; and provisioning, in response toreceiving the user request, the feature for the mobile communicationdevice for the second time period.
 9. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage device of claim 8, wherein the second timeperiod is shorter than the first time period.
 10. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage device of claim 8, wherein the second timeperiod is renewable, and wherein the operations further comprisere-provisioning the feature for the mobile communication device inresponse to receiving a request to renew the feature.
 11. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage device of claim 8, wherein thefeature comprises access to digital media content, and wherein thedigital media content comprises at least one of audio, video, or videogames.
 12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage device of claim8, wherein the operations further comprise providing, to the mobilecommunication device, a prompt for a payment type for a chargeassociated with the feature, wherein the prompt comprises a first optionto bill an account associated with a user of the mobile communicationdevice for the charge associated with the feature, a second option todeduct the charge associated with the feature from a debit accountassociated with the user of the mobile communication device, and a thirdoption to make a one-time payment for the charge associated with thefeature.
 13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage device ofclaim 8, wherein the operations further comprise establishing, in adatabase, an entry associated with an account corresponding to a user ofthe mobile communication device, the entry comprising at least one of anexpiration date for the feature based on the second time period duringwhich the feature is available or an expiration quantity of the feature.14. A system comprising: a processor; and a computer-readable storagedevice storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed bythe processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:receiving, from a mobile communication device associated with asubscription plan associated with a first time period, a user requestfor a feature associated with a second time period, and provisioning, inresponse to receiving the user request, the feature for the mobilecommunication device for the second time period.
 15. The system of claim14, wherein the second time period is shorter than the first timeperiod.
 16. The system of claim 14, wherein the second time period isrenewable, and wherein the operations further comprise re-provisioningthe feature for the mobile communication device in response to receivinga request to renew the feature.
 17. The system of claim 14, wherein thesubscription plan comprises one of a voice plan or a data plan.
 18. Thesystem of claim 14, wherein the feature comprises access to digitalmedia content, wherein the digital media content comprises at least oneof audio, video, or video games.
 19. The system of claim 14, wherein theoperations further comprise providing, to the mobile communicationdevice, a prompt for a payment type for a charge associated with thefeature, wherein the prompt comprises a first option to bill an accountassociated with a user of the mobile communication device for the chargeassociated with the feature, a second option to deduct the chargeassociated with the feature from a debit account associated with theuser of the mobile communication device, and a third option to make aone-time payment for the charge associated with the feature.
 20. Thesystem of claim 14, wherein the operations further compriseestablishing, in a database, an entry associated with an accountcorresponding to a user of the mobile communication device, the entrycomprising at least one of an expiration date for the feature based onthe second time period during which the feature is available or anexpiration quantity of the feature.